Mending Two Broken Hearts
by MasterMind13
Summary: How Berry met Nergal Jr. Request Fic.


**This is yet another request from mlpgirl1998. I used some information from ncfan's fanfic to fit into this story. Specifically Berry's creator, Jenny Brown. Also, I haven't watched "Son of Nergal" in a long time, so I apologize if I got a few things wrong. I vaguely remember "Berry Scary" and "Affair Weather Friends." But hey, we have Berry and Nergal Jr. talking about their pasts. **

**Yeah, so, plus, Mindy and Panini don't appear in this story. It's just Berry and Nergal Jr. in this one. Also, Jenny Brown's NOT my OC. She belongs to ncfan. Yeah, I just used her for this story. ****Ncfan, I am crediting you. **

**P.S. The whole Valentine's Day being Berry's birthday theme...I got the idea from Pupster0071. It fits Berry pretty well. Threw in my own headcanon to fit this fic. **

* * *

On any other night, Berry would've found a place to have fun. Be it at a nightclub or at the movies, but tonight wasn't any of those nights. Berry ambled the streets, brow furrowed and a brooding mind. It was Valentine's Day. Berry didn't hate it, but she still resented it. Back then, she used to celebrate it with her creator, Jenny Brown. The two would give out valentines to each other and to Jenny's grandparents. But after going psychotic on Jenny's friends and grandparents, Jenny lashed out at her and demanded that she leave. After that, Berry hasn't celebrated Valentine's Day in a long time.

Everywhere she went Berry saw it. Everyone was either with their love interest, or with friends, or family. Love was in the air, and Berry could practically smell it. Three streets back she passed a flower shop. They had a shipment of red roses. There were other roses in different colors: white for innocence; light pink for admiration; coral for desire; yellow for friendship; and lavender for falling in love. But the red ones, the really deep red ones were the most popular. Red for passion. Red for romance. It made Berry's stomach churn.

Berry was about to reach her apartment when she bumped into something. Falling on her bottom, she glanced up and saw that she bumped into a rather large man. He was dressed in a khaki trench coat, a black cap showing tufts of brown hair, a little bit of stubble on his chin. What stood out the most were his storm gray eyes. The man had on a pair of black work boots, and by the way he hid his hands in his pockets, he appeared to carry a knife. Berry was indeed caught in the middle.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?," he said. His voice was smooth and suave, like the ones psychopaths have. Berry didn't answer.

"Nowhere to celebrate Valentine's Day tonight, dear?," asked the man. Berry gulped and back as far away from him as possible. The trench coated man just walked closer to her.

"P-please l-l-leave me a-l-l-one," stuttered Berry. She was shaking so hard she could barely work her mouth.

Usually, Berry could hold her own in a fight, but this time seemed like one of those nights where she couldn't fight back. Not that Berry couldn't beat him up, no, she had great fighting skills, but this man was so psychologically intimidating that he brought Berry into submission.

"Now, come on, don't be like that," coerced the man. "Let's say you and me get a drink somewhere and see how it all goes from there?"

From that second, Berry took off running.

"Hey!" the man shouted. "Get back here!"

Berry ran into the alley behind her apartment building. She remembered that her roommate was out with her boyfriend and wouldn't be back until tomorrow. Berry was having the worst of luck. There was no one to defend her and she was trying to escaping a psychopath. She reached a dead end. The wooden fence was too high for her to climb up as she really short. Berry swiveled around and saw the man approaching her.

"Think you can get away from me?" The man slunk up to her. "Nobody gets away from me."

"Somebody help me!" Berry shouted to anyone who might hear her.

The man revealed his hands, he had on black fingerless gloves, and his knife glinted in the street lamp's light. He looked ready to take her down. Berry stood there with no other way out, she stood, frozen in fear. She closed her eyes and shielded herself with her arms and waited for the inevitable to happen.

A cry startled Berry. She opened her eyes and saw that the man was bleeding—from a black tentacle that impaled him through his chest. Berry's eyes widened. The tentacle slithered out of him. The man fell over and she saw her savior.

Nothing about this boy could be human. He just couldn't be! This boy had pale skin, jet black hair, green teeth, and glasses with green lenses—or were his eyes the ones that were green? If he took them off, they would be regular glasses and his eyes would be the ones that were green. The boy was dressed in black. The light from the street lamp shined behind him, making him look alluring in a way that Berry couldn't describe. His black tentacles writhed and snapped. He had about six of them.

"You okay?," the boy asked. He had a soft voice. Berry could only nod as an answer. The boy continued. "I, uh, saw you running down here, and that guy chasing you. I saw what he was about to do, so I stopped him." He smiled sheepishly, like he had been caught breaking his mother's favorite vase.

"Thanks," said Berry.

The boy's tentacles slithered back into his back. It alarmed Berry to no end.

"Wanna go for a walk?," asked the boy. Again, Berry nodded. Stepping carefully over the man's body to avoid stepping on his blood, Berry joined the boy and they left the alley. She and the boy crossed the street, headed down the right, turned a corner and from there Berry broke the ice.

"My name's Berry," said Berry.

"Mine's Nergal Jr.," said the boy. "But you can just call me Junior."

"Okay," quoth Berry. "What were you doing out here, anyway?"

"I could ask you the same thing," retorted Junior. Berry blanched.

"Um, well..." She found she couldn't work her mouth. He just saved her from a psycho and here she was walking with him. Maybe it was the experience that was still hard to process. She needed to gather her thoughts. Berry saw they were about to pass by a bakery. It was called "Sugar Bliss."

"Wanna get a bite?" she asked Junior. The boy stopped in his tracks and looked at the bakery. The sign had the bakery's name in cursive letters, and a picture of a heart and rose below it. Nergal Jr. didn't think too much of it and it was the closest place in sight.

"Sure," said Nergal Jr.

He and Berry stepped inside. The bakery was painted a soft shade of pink. And from the looks of it it was decorated for Valentine's Day. Paper hearts and Cupids hanged from the ceiling. Junior and Berry walked over to the counter. They had fresh-baked trays of cupcakes frosted in icings in different colors, ranging from yellow, blue, orange, purple, pink, red, white and green. There were three more trays of cupcakes, only these were decorated to celebrate Valentine's Day. They were frosted pink, had sprinkles and topped with cherries. Berry looked over at the glass door refrigerator. They had cakes in all shapes and sizes. One was even shaped like a heart. Berry couldn't decide on one thing.

"Two Valentine cupcakes, please," Berry said to the cashier. While the cashier was busy getting the cupcakes, Berry hurried over to the refrigerator—not the big one with all the cakes—but the one with drinks. There were juices, sodas, milks in different flavors, iced coffees, and iced teas. Berry grabbed an iced coffee for her and a soda for Junior. She rushed back to the cashier. "And these," she told the cashier, holding up their beverages. Berry paid for their food and she and Junior sat at a table next to the window.

Starting a conversation was hard when all Berry could think about was him rescuing her back at the alley.

"Um..." Berry bit her lip. "Um, uh, I don't want you to be offended or anything, but...um... How did you do that?"

It didn't take long for Nergal Jr. to figure out she meant the tentacles. "I was born like this," he replied. Berry blinked. He needed to be more descriptive. He started from the beginning. "My dad's a demon and my mother's human. They met and fell in love, and well, my upbringing is a little hard to explain. You see, I wasn't born like humans are born, I...I hatched from an egg."

Berry's eyes widened like saucers. "An egg?"

Junior nodded. He opened his soda can and took a swig.

"So...then...?"

"Well, after I was born," said Nergal Jr., after taking a sip of soda, "my dad sent me to a winter camp. That's where I met my cousin Billy, and his friend, Mandy."

At the name Mandy Berry's ears pricked. Junior looked at her quizzically.

"I'd take it by the look on your face that you've met Mandy," said Junior.

"I met her once, at the premier of her movie G_lorious Nightmares_," replied Berry. She took a bite of her cupcake.

"Yeah, I heard about that movie," said Junior, forlornly. "When I heard that Mandy directed it, I couldn't bring myself to see it. It's just...Mandy's an enigma."

"I know what you mean." Berry opened her iced coffee and gulped down a mouthful. "So what happened at camp?"

"After I met Billy and Mandy, I had a hard time fitting in. I wasn't very good at socializing—and I still am. Anyways, once I arrived at the camp, I realized I was the first one there—or at least, that's what I thought until I saw another boy appear and he insulted me." Junior stopped to take another sip of soda.

"What did you do?," asked Berry.

"The perks of being a demon is that you can do pretty much anything," answered Junior. "So, I took the boy and put him under a hibernation state. And then I covered him in snow, to make him look like a snowman. And then I shapeshifted to look like him. But it didn't stop there."

Berry adopted a worried look.

"After the others arrived, we were forced to hole up in a freezing barn," began Junior. "I was in my normal form—this," he pointed to himself, signaling his current appearance. "I wasn't too happy to be cramped in a cold barn, so I took the form of the camp councilor, John Jack Daniel Torrence. He was cantankerous and humorless. I put him in a hibernation state before I took his form.

"The next day I continued to kidnap more and more kids and take their forms to become popular—or at least I thought I was going to be popular." He took a bite out of his cupcake. "Anyways, Billy wasn't aware of what was going on, but I guess I should've seen it coming. He found my snowmen, not just them, but the campers buried underneath them, too. I confronted him. He asked me for the whereabouts of Mandy, so I took her form. He corrected me by pointing out she didn't wear glasses, as they made her look like a freak.

"I lost it when he said the word 'freak,' cause I take offense easily, and...just as I was about to release the full extent of my powers, Mandy suddenly shows up—and she had my teddy bear Mr. Bonkers. She told me she was gonna rip him up unless I freed Billy. I let him go, and she gave me Mr. Bonkers. After she left, it was just me and Billy. I was crying, not about Mandy threatening to un-stuff Mr. Bonkers, but because of my actions and my growing loneliness. It wasn't until Billy promised to be my best friend forever. That made me feel better. I felt confident enough to show him my true demon form. But...again, Billy insulted me without meaning to, but an insult is still an insult, so I froze him in a snowman and took his form and went back home as him."

When he finished his story, he saw Berry's stupefied face. However way she responds was all up to her, and Junior wouldn't blame her if she chose to leave.

"Whoa," uttered Berry. It was evident by her befuddlement that she was having a hard time processing this.

"Yeah, that's my story," said Junior. He took another sip of soda while languidly looking out the window.

"So, why are you down on Valentine's Day?," queried Berry.

"I'm just trying to forget about last year's Valentine's Day," said Junior. "It involves a broken heart, a broken friendship and Mandy." To his surprise Berry rolled her eyes. It seemed the mere mention of Mandy annoyed her all too easy. "Well, anyways, a friend of mine, Irwin, made a giant Valentine card for Mandy, but he was too scared to give it her himself, so he asked _me_ to give it to her. But, you see, after I gave her the Valentine, she thought _I_ was the one giving it to her.

"I tried to explain to her that it was from Irwin, but she had already made the plans for the Valentine's Day dance. When to pick her up, how I should be around her. Well, as you can guess, Irwin got mad at me and accused me of stealing Mandy. After I went home, I was brooding in my room, when my dad came in to check on me. I told him about what happened. I asked him if I was a bad person for stealing someone else's girl, but dad told me that it made me a man. That I was the alpha male, that sort of thing. I was on the fence, but my dad reassured me that he was right on this one.

"So, I got dressed, picked Mandy up and dad took me and Mandy to the school dance. We saw Irwin and Billy with their dates, twin sisters. While I was getting Mandy a glass of punch, I saw Irwin talking to her, so I went over there and accused him of stealing the only girl who likes me for me. And from there we fought. We threw fruit punch at each other. We pretty much ruined the dance for everyone. Then Mandy revealed that she was just using us, pitting us against each other for her enjoyment. She didn't say that, but I could see it in her eyes." Nergal Jr.'s voice dripped with anger.

"Gee," said Berry, "that's awful." She looked down at the floor, trying to avoid the fact that Nergal Jr. was a demon-human hybrid, or that he's had it just as bad as her.

"Well?" Nergal Jr. said. "I've blabbed my story, so now let's hear yours."

"You'd be surprised how alike we are." Berry proclaimed.

"Try me," said Junior. Berry couldn't argue with that.

"I...was a...terrible imaginary friend," she said. She wasn't even sugar coating it. "My creator, Jenny, she created me out of her loneliness. Her parents weren't around much. And well, eventually, her parents lost custody of Jenny and the court sent her to live with her grandparents in the west coast.

"After we moved in with Grandma and Grandpa, Jenny started making real friends, and she didn't pay much attention to me anymore. I was jealous. I didn't **want** to share Jenny with anyone. So, I hurt her friends, and even hurt Grandma and Grandpa. When Jenny found out, she yelled at me, told me to leave. So I left." Berry looked down at the floor, downcast. "I lived in several places. Usually shelters, under bridges... Then I ended up at Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends. That's where I met Bloo.

"I crushed on him from the moment I saw him. I made him snickerdoodles, showed him my scrapbook. I was about to show him my macaroni sculpture of him when I saw him with his creator, Mac. I knew I shouldn't have gotten jealous over him, but I couldn't help it. Mac and Bloo were trying to break world records, I tried to break them apart by interfering. After so many antics, I convinced Bloo that Mac was holding him back. When he told Mac to leave, I was satisfied. I had Bloo to myself. I convinced Bloo to do the world record he always wanted to do: build a giant rubber band ball.

"We presented it in the auditorium in front of the whole house. Just as we were about to put the last rubber band, Mac cut it with scissors. Mac gave Bloo a speech about Bloo leaving him for world records. I pointed out that he'd broken the last rubber band, Mac revealed he had another one. He and Bloo put the last rubber band—trapping me in it. I lashed out at them and I was thrashing and my thrashing caused the rubber band ball to move and I went bouncing around the whole country."

"Damn," said Junior. "How'd you get out of the rubber band ball?"

"The rubber band ball crashed onto this truck, luckily it had a shipment of pillows," continued Berry. "After I was freed I began my plans to get revenge on Mac. I kept the rubber band ball and started my long journey back to Foster's. Well, not _Foster's _generally, but hang out somewhere close to it. I broke into this rich family's mansion, locked them up in the closet, and passed myself off as the owner. I made a disguise for myself. Barry Bling, the richest boy in the world. I arrived at Foster's in a limousine, and Mac and Bloo were there to welcome me. I let them show me around the Foster home, introducing me to the imaginary friends. I never broke character and kept up the act. When I announced I wanted to adopt Bloo Mac was against it. No amount of money I offered him could convince him to give up his imaginary friend.

"But that didn't stop Bloo from seeing me. Before I left, I showed him an automatic paddleball. So, while Mac was at school, Bloo came over to the mansion to play. Although he wanted to play with the automatic paddleball, I had to wear him down. I had to wait until Mac figured it out. He eventually did, and when he came to the mansion I trapped him in the rubber band ball, and revealed myself. He was shocked to find out it was me and I told him my plan. Mac tried to get Bloo to help him, but he was distracted with the automatic paddleball, and the fact that he didn't recognize me or remember me, but I allowed it.

"I rolled him over to the train set, and got ready to run him over with the toy train. Mac kept shouting at Bloo for help. Bloo somehow fought his greed, and chose him over me and he used the automatic paddleball to save Mac— and well, he saved Mac just as I was about to run him over. He got out and I got trapped in the rubber band ball and bounced away."

"That's karma for ya," said Nergal Jr, raising a brow. "So what happened next?"

"Well, after bouncing around halfway across the country, I found myself alone and with my plans foiled once again. I didn't want the rubber band ball anymore, so I left it in that candy truck. I wandered the streets. I slept under bridges again, I looked for food in the trash cans, even though I had a little money, I had to save it. I hitched a ride back here and I spent the last of my money on a bowl of soup at a diner. After that, I tried to turn my life around. I wanted to get better. That last ride around the rubber band ball made me realize how awful I am. Bloo never loved me, I was just projecting my feelings of being loved onto him. I imagined a love fantasy where he and I are together. So, I was about to go to a rehab center when this girl found me, who later took me to her apartment. That was the apartment I was about to go into before that creep chased me." Berry added, as to be specific.

"Where is your roommate?" Nergal Jr. asked.

"She's out with her boyfriend," replied Berry, "she probably won't be back until tomorrow." She took another sip of her iced coffee. She took a quick bite out of her cupcake. "It's not the most glamorous life, but at least I have a roof over my head. I help out, I pay the rent, I sell my crafts on the street. She goes to college, but she's not the brightest girl around. Always going to parties." She took another sip of coffee. "Anyways, I've been going to therapy, still am, by the way. I have a long way to go before I really put the past behind me." Berry looked out the window, a despondent look on her face.

Nergal Jr. blinked. "Wow."

"Good day for rejects, huh?" Berry uttered, resting her cheek on her palm. Nergal Jr. stayed silent, unable to come up with a response.

A sigh grabbed his attention, Junior looked over at Berry, who was about to say something else. "Oh," she began, "also, today's my birthday." As expected, Nergal Jr.'s eyebrows went flying. "Yeah," said Berry, "I'm a Valentine's baby. Or imaginary friend."

Nergal Jr. didn't know whether to say anything or not. Finally, he said, "So that's why you're depressed about Valetine's Day?"

"Yup," said Berry, nodding. "It's not so much the _day_, but what it symbolizes. Valentine's Day's supposed to represent the love you have. Be it for your friends, or your family, your boyfriends, girlfriends. That's the whole point of giving cards, and candy and flowers. To show that someone you love them."

"Do you still love Jenny?," asked Junior.

"Of course I do," quipped Berry. "That's why I had to go. She was never going to have a life with me always chasing away all her friends. I still think about her, but I can't send her anything on Valentine's Day. I figured it be better if she just forgets about me. She might have forgotten about me by now, but I will never forget her."

There was a deep silence.

"You know what, Berry?" Junior said. "I'm gonna get you something for your birthday."

"What?" Berry uttered. "You don't have to—"

"No, I want to," said Junior more firmly. "Come on, I'm gonna buy you something." He gulped down the last of his soda and grabbed Berry by the wrist, and dragged her out of the bakery.

The two jogged down the streets, looking in every direction. Well, mostly Junior doing the searching, Berry just looked on in confusion. Nergal Jr. spotted a jewelry store across the street. It was called "Emerald Sea." It would have to do, and it was about to close in fifteen minutes, judging by the sign on the front door. He and Berry crossed the street. Barging inside, the jeweler looked up from his paperwork and regarded Junior and Berry with a surprised look. Nergal Jr. started looking at the glass cases for a suitable present. Berry meanwhile was busying herself with the earrings in their display cases. They all looked very beautiful, but by the looks of it, they were out her price range. Expensive as all fine things are.

Nergal Jr. surveyed the glass cases, swiftly looking from the diamond rings to the brooches. None of them stood out. None of them grabbed his attention. It was a special day today and he just couldn't find anything that said "Happy Valentine's Day." He was about to give up when he saw a necklace next to the cashier. Junior hadn't seen that one. It was a heart-shaped ruby with gold cradling its frame. Its surface threw back the light in all its brilliance. Junior knew he'd found the perfect present.

"I'll take that one," said Nergal Jr., pointing at the necklace while running up to the jeweler. The jeweler blinked at Nergal Jr. slamming his money onto the counter. The man took his money, counted it, and by the wide-eyed expression, seemed like Junior had enough to pay for it. Was Junior secretly rich?

"Here you go, Monsieur," said the jeweler in his thick French accent. He handed the necklace to Junior and Junior hurried over to Berry, who looked at it with misty eyes.

"Junior, it's so beautiful," squealed Berry. She looked at the necklace and at Junior, having a hard time gathering her words. "I...I don't know what to say."

"Just say you'll wear it all the time," said Nergal Jr. "And that you might be interested in going to the movies with me next Saturday." He added, winking.

Berry got the gist and bashfully took the necklace. "Definitely," she said while she put on the necklace. The ruby caught the light in a glint, almost like it blinked.

"Want me to walk you home?" Junior asked, offering his arm.

"I'd like that," said Berry, smiling. She took his arm and together they left the jewelry store, putting their tragic pasts behind them.

Two broken hearts forever connected.

* * *

**That's one story I got out of the way. As of today, I'm not taking requests anymore. Sorry, guys, but I'm fed up; I'm tired. **

**I posted it early, so as to get the burden off my shoulders. Besides, it was better to publish it early than to wait for the actual holiday. **


End file.
